So, what about the video? The White House last week released nearly 100 pages of emails detailing some of the discussions within the Obama administration that resulted in major revisions to talking points about the Benghazi attacks drafted by the Central Intelligence Agency.
Emails, schmemails—let's move on.
KEVIN LAMARQUE / Reuters / Landov
From the beginning, there have been two big questions about the administration's deceptive spin on Benghazi: How were the talking points whittled down to virtually nothing from the CIA's original draft? And how did a previously obscure YouTube video gain such prominence in the administration's explanation of what happened in Benghazi?
The emails fill in at least some of the details about the talking points. They also leave in ruins administration claims that White House and State Department officials were mere bystanders in the process. But how, exactly, the video became so prominent in the administration's public rhetoric remains something of a mystery.
The new documents disprove claims by Obama spokesman Jay Carney, Hillary Clinton, and others that the White House and State Department had virtually nothing to do with rewriting the talking points. Carney maintained that officials from State and the White House were responsible for a "single adjustment" to the language. Clinton insisted that the intelligence community was the "principal decider" of what would be said. But the emails make clear that top White House and State officials played key roles in reshaping the CIA's initial draft.
"The State Department had major reservations with much or most of the document," wrote a CIA official from the Office of Public Affairs, at 9:15 p.m. on September 14. "We revised the document with their concerns in mind."
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/what-about-video_724696.html
No comments:
Post a Comment